Two challenging problems in applications involving translucent coatings such as wood stains are: (1) the variation of the colorant-mixture rule with the absorbent substrate (e.g., type of wood) on which the translucent coatings is applied; and (2) the requirement that the texture (e.g., wood grain) of the absorbent substrate be visible through the translucent coating within a prescribed contrast. For instance, if the colorant-formulation algorithm is left unconstrained and asked for a match to the type of absorbent substrate, the result might be an opaque layer with the right “average” reflectance but with no texture left visible.